Chapter 5Danby, Yorkshire, August 30, 1885
The night was dark, but full of stars. Elizabeth could see many of them plainly, shining bright through the rustling leaves of the apple tree just outside the kitchen door. They were the same stars that shone down on her father’s house in 1815, and she held the thought in her mind a moment, trying to extract comfort from it, before finally concluding that there was no comfort to be had. She leaned against the tree and listened to the rise and fall of voices from the torchlit group a short distance away, grateful she could only make out half the words. Her visit to the convenience had been as much an excuse for a few minutes’ respite as anything else.
Behind her, the warm, dark kitchen smelled of bread. Janet had waited until the cool of the even
